Air Plan Approval; Ohio; Clean Data Determination for the Cleveland, Ohio Area for the 2015 Ozone Standard

What it does

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is determining under the Clean Air Act (CAA) that the Cleveland, Ohio nonattainment area (hereafter also referred to as "Cleveland area" or "area") has attained the 2015 ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS or standard). This determination is based upon complete, quality-assured, and certified ambient air monitoring data for the 2023-2025 design period showing that the Cleveland area achieved attainment of the 2015 ozone NAAQS. This determination relies on an exceptional events request submitted by the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (Ohio EPA) on December 8, 2025, and concurred on by the EPA on January 12, 2026. The EPA is taking final agency action on Ohio's exceptional events request and the EPA's concurrence. As a result of this determination, the EPA is suspending the requirements for the State to submit an attainment demonstration and associated Reasonable Available Control Measures (RACM), Reasonable Further Progress (RFP) plans, contingency measures for failure to attain or make reasonable progress, and other planning SIPs related to attainment of the 2015 ozone NAAQS, for as long as the area continues to attain the 2015 ozone NAAQS. The EPA proposed to approve this action on February 27, 2026.

The Environmental Protection Agency's summary, as published in the Federal Register.

What changed in the regulation

1 part of Title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations:

40 CFR 52

Wording on eCFR: the day before it took effect and from the day it took effect (first part listed).

Compared with

The Environmental Protection Agency has published 245 final rules in 2026 so far, compared with 263 in all of 2025.

Counted by the Tribune from Federal Register records since Jan. 1, 2025.

What happens next and when

This final rule is effective on May 14, 2026.

The agency's dates, word for word.

Check it yourself

• The document in the Federal Register
• Docket EPA-R05-OAR-2026-0562 on Regulations.gov
• Title 40 on eCFR

The record as published

Source: the Federal Register (public domain). The document in the Federal Register